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Lane County faces loss of federal funding
A renewal of funds would still not be enough to pull county out of deficit in coming years
by Jason Reed | News editor
Lane County Sheriff Russ Burger may have to say good-bye to nearly 35 percent of his workforce if he is forced to hand pink slips to his employees by the middle of this summer because of looming county-wide budget cuts.
County officials have come to grips with the very likely possibility of losing $47 million in federal money that has traditionally been used to subsidize county programs and departments such as Burger's sheriff's office.
The County Budget Committee recently directed officials to prepare the 2008-2009 budget without the inclusion of the federal money. As the budget now looks, Burger's office would receive the largest blow from the falling budget ax and be forced to lay off 126 of its 366 positions.
"We're going to do the best we can with what we've got," Burger said in a phone interview that normally would have been conducted with Sgt. Clint Riley, the office's spokesman - his position was recently eliminated because of budget cuts.
As the budget currently looks, the sheriff's office could have to eliminate a number of services, including search and rescue and emergency management, a program that plans for and prepares the community for natural disaster and man-made disasters such as terrorist attacks. Burger would only be able to keep two violent crimes detectives on staff, and he is trying desperately to find a way to keep the narcotics investigations team.
One of the more feared cuts the sheriff's office could make, Burger said, is to eliminate 24-hour patrol coverage. The proposed budget would only leave the man power to provide 20-hour coverage. This would leave four hours out of each day when sheriff's deputies would not be able to provide assistance to citizens who need it.
With the proposed budget cuts there would also be a reduction in the number of jail beds the county would operate.
Burger said for a county the size of Lane it needs 1,200 to 1,500 beds to house criminals. Currently Lane County has only 151 jail beds to hold local offenders. That number will definitely be reduced to less than 75, but could wither down to only 11 beds, Burger said.
He put the situation into perspective by saying that, as of Jan. 30, there have been 37 people occupying those jail beds as they await trial for robbery, rape, murder, kidnap, arson and sexual abuse.
Under the prospective 2008-09 budget, the county would not be able to finance the number of beds needed to keep those violent criminals off of the streets as they await trial.
"We'll be forced to release some pretty bad people," Burger said.
The three other departments that would suffer from county budget cuts are Health and Human Services, which could lose 41 of its 330 positions; the District Attorney's office, which could lose 7 of its 71 positions; and Youth Services, which might have to eliminate 6 of its 67 positions, according to figures from David Garnick, head of the county's budgeting department; and Greta Utecht, the human resources director.
If residents are wondering why the county doesn't have the money to fund services that protect and help its residents, County Commissioner and Chair of the county's Budget Committee Faye Stewart has the answer and a few possible solutions.
The county "still hasn't heard from Congress if it is going to receive the federal money" that has traditionally made up a large portion of the funds that many programs rely on, Stewart said.
Even if the county does receive a renewal of federal money "it is highly probable that this will be the conclusion of (it)," he added.
There are two possible chances of rescue for the county: a one-year reprieve or a four-year renewal that would gradually decrease during the four-year allocation.
The one-year reprieve would most likely not be used for the upcoming budget, but would instead probably go into "buying down the structural deficit," Garnick said.
Currently, the county's revenue is growing at an annual rate of 3 percent, but expenditures are rising at an annual rate of 6 percent, creating a constantly growing structural deficit.
Because of that gap, even if the county makes cuts this year, it would have to make up to $4 million in cuts again in 2011, Garnick said.
If the county receives the one-year payment, it is looking at using that money to counter the long-term problem and not to prevent the impending layoffs.
The other possible bailout for the county would be a four-year, gradual reduction allocation from the federal government.
Instead of taking the money as incremental payouts, Stewart said the county would most likely figure out what the sum total of the four years' payments would be and spread that money evenly to county departments across the next four years.
Both the one-year and the four-year plans will still leave the county financially short and force layoffs, he said.
If the county government does receive any federal money, either scenario would not fully rescue the county, and officials understand it will be the last time they receive any old timber payments from the federal government.
The county must adopt a balanced budget by July 1, a date which both Garnick and Stewart said will probably pass before Congress and President George W. Bush would grant the county any money.
So while the short-term outlook appears bleak, county officials are aware of the fact that they need to plan for the long-term to stop the situation from deteriorating further.
Stewart said there are a number of possibilities, some of which are more likely than others and some of which may not currently be appealing to the public.
Those feelings, however, could change once county services are slashed and basic needs are not being met.
"I heard one person say that you actually have to fly the plane into the ground first to make everyone believe that there is going to be a crash," Garnick said.
County officials will possibly try to find a new federal program to help fund local departments, Stewart said, and they will also "try to find out how the state could help us wherever they can."
The state has pledged to pay nearly $10 million into the road fund for the upcoming fiscal year, which is normally funded with the federal timber money, Garnick said.
But the state's revenue forecast will not come out until May, and if it does come up short on funds there could be a ripple effect that would affect Lane County's state funds, Stewart said.
Some officials believe that perhaps the solution lies in-house.
However, voters have rejected the last three county-wide income tax measures and the last 10 property tax measures.
Stewart said those taxes were obviously not popular with the public, but county commissioners could look toward the May 2009 ballot for a new property tax measure. He would also like to see a state-wide movement that would propose a tax that is taboo in Oregon - a sales tax.
"It would have to be structured in a way that people will accept it, but I don't know what else we can do," Stewart said.
The county plans to release the 08-09 budget on April 21, and the budget committee will begin meeting on April 29. During those meetings the committee will determine which services need to be cut and how many positions each department would have to eliminate.
jreed@dailyemerald.com
Budget cut impacts
| Because of the potential lack of $47 million in funding, these are the number of positions that each department would have to eliminate: • Sheriff's office - 126 of the 366 current positions. • District Attorney's office - 7 of the 71 current positions. • Health and Human Services - 41 of the 330 current positions. • Youth Services - 6 of the 67 current positions. |
The County Budget Committee recently directed officials to prepare the 2008-2009 budget without the inclusion of the federal money. As the budget now looks, Burger's office would receive the largest blow from the falling budget ax and be forced to lay off 126 of its 366 positions.
"We're going to do the best we can with what we've got," Burger said in a phone interview that normally would have been conducted with Sgt. Clint Riley, the office's spokesman - his position was recently eliminated because of budget cuts.
As the budget currently looks, the sheriff's office could have to eliminate a number of services, including search and rescue and emergency management, a program that plans for and prepares the community for natural disaster and man-made disasters such as terrorist attacks. Burger would only be able to keep two violent crimes detectives on staff, and he is trying desperately to find a way to keep the narcotics investigations team.
One of the more feared cuts the sheriff's office could make, Burger said, is to eliminate 24-hour patrol coverage. The proposed budget would only leave the man power to provide 20-hour coverage. This would leave four hours out of each day when sheriff's deputies would not be able to provide assistance to citizens who need it.
With the proposed budget cuts there would also be a reduction in the number of jail beds the county would operate.
Burger said for a county the size of Lane it needs 1,200 to 1,500 beds to house criminals. Currently Lane County has only 151 jail beds to hold local offenders. That number will definitely be reduced to less than 75, but could wither down to only 11 beds, Burger said.
He put the situation into perspective by saying that, as of Jan. 30, there have been 37 people occupying those jail beds as they await trial for robbery, rape, murder, kidnap, arson and sexual abuse.
Under the prospective 2008-09 budget, the county would not be able to finance the number of beds needed to keep those violent criminals off of the streets as they await trial.
"We'll be forced to release some pretty bad people," Burger said.
The three other departments that would suffer from county budget cuts are Health and Human Services, which could lose 41 of its 330 positions; the District Attorney's office, which could lose 7 of its 71 positions; and Youth Services, which might have to eliminate 6 of its 67 positions, according to figures from David Garnick, head of the county's budgeting department; and Greta Utecht, the human resources director.
Where is the money?
If residents are wondering why the county doesn't have the money to fund services that protect and help its residents, County Commissioner and Chair of the county's Budget Committee Faye Stewart has the answer and a few possible solutions.
The county "still hasn't heard from Congress if it is going to receive the federal money" that has traditionally made up a large portion of the funds that many programs rely on, Stewart said.
Even if the county does receive a renewal of federal money "it is highly probable that this will be the conclusion of (it)," he added.
There are two possible chances of rescue for the county: a one-year reprieve or a four-year renewal that would gradually decrease during the four-year allocation.
The one-year reprieve would most likely not be used for the upcoming budget, but would instead probably go into "buying down the structural deficit," Garnick said.
Currently, the county's revenue is growing at an annual rate of 3 percent, but expenditures are rising at an annual rate of 6 percent, creating a constantly growing structural deficit.
Because of that gap, even if the county makes cuts this year, it would have to make up to $4 million in cuts again in 2011, Garnick said.
If the county receives the one-year payment, it is looking at using that money to counter the long-term problem and not to prevent the impending layoffs.
The other possible bailout for the county would be a four-year, gradual reduction allocation from the federal government.
Instead of taking the money as incremental payouts, Stewart said the county would most likely figure out what the sum total of the four years' payments would be and spread that money evenly to county departments across the next four years.
Both the one-year and the four-year plans will still leave the county financially short and force layoffs, he said.
Solutions
If the county government does receive any federal money, either scenario would not fully rescue the county, and officials understand it will be the last time they receive any old timber payments from the federal government.
The county must adopt a balanced budget by July 1, a date which both Garnick and Stewart said will probably pass before Congress and President George W. Bush would grant the county any money.
So while the short-term outlook appears bleak, county officials are aware of the fact that they need to plan for the long-term to stop the situation from deteriorating further.
Stewart said there are a number of possibilities, some of which are more likely than others and some of which may not currently be appealing to the public.
Those feelings, however, could change once county services are slashed and basic needs are not being met.
"I heard one person say that you actually have to fly the plane into the ground first to make everyone believe that there is going to be a crash," Garnick said.
County officials will possibly try to find a new federal program to help fund local departments, Stewart said, and they will also "try to find out how the state could help us wherever they can."
The state has pledged to pay nearly $10 million into the road fund for the upcoming fiscal year, which is normally funded with the federal timber money, Garnick said.
But the state's revenue forecast will not come out until May, and if it does come up short on funds there could be a ripple effect that would affect Lane County's state funds, Stewart said.
Some officials believe that perhaps the solution lies in-house.
However, voters have rejected the last three county-wide income tax measures and the last 10 property tax measures.
Stewart said those taxes were obviously not popular with the public, but county commissioners could look toward the May 2009 ballot for a new property tax measure. He would also like to see a state-wide movement that would propose a tax that is taboo in Oregon - a sales tax.
"It would have to be structured in a way that people will accept it, but I don't know what else we can do," Stewart said.
The county plans to release the 08-09 budget on April 21, and the budget committee will begin meeting on April 29. During those meetings the committee will determine which services need to be cut and how many positions each department would have to eliminate.
jreed@dailyemerald.com
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